Dearly Daunting
by AnOriginalSnowflake
Summary: Looking into his eyes I could tell he was as heartless as I believed, but something... something within me just wanted to care for him.
1. Elsandria

**I think it is time that I get back into my writing. I apologize for not writing for ages! I guess you should know, that the stupid sickness known as "Writers Block" took over me, rendering me useless in the writing area, and I had school... Stupid school... Oh well, let us hope that I continue writing this. I hope you all like this!**

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Chapter 1

I remember when I was just a child. It had been my twin sister Sansa's and my seventh name day, and there had been a long, joyous, feast thrown for us, with gifts of all sizes. Sansa had fallen asleep on the shoulder of our eldest brother Robb, while I had been dancing around, laughing, with our half-brother Jon. When we had been taken to bed - Sansa still out like a candle - Father and Mother had taken us to our beds and had placed us gently down.

"Goodnight my child," Father had whispered over Sansa, before placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead before coming to kneel beside my bed, where I sat looking at them. Mother followed close behind, also placing a kiss to her forehead, before coming to my bed.

"I hope you had a joyous name day my dear," Mother said with a smile looking down upon me. I nodded in agreement up at her, not wishing to say anything in fear of waking Sansa up. "That is good, now, off to sleep with you!" She leant down and placed a tender kiss to my forehead, before standing up straight and leaving the room, with Father still there.

"You looked wonderful today," He said quietly sitting on the edge of my bed, placing a hand a top of mine.

"Thank you Father," I whispered with a small smile on my lips, watching him as he fell deep into thought. "Father?" I whispered, nudging his hand slightly, breaking him from his thoughts, "Is everything okay?" I questioned.

"Everything is fine my dear." He sighed, "I was just thinking - about something your brother had mentioned to me earlier." I looked at him with a quizzical look. "Why haven't you told me that you have been wanting archery lessons?" I stared at him in shock.

"I- I- well..." I mumbled, not knowing how to answer. "I thought you wouldn't agree - since it isn't lady like..." I dropped my head, to look at my blanket covered legs. A finger tilted my head back up to look at my father.

"There is nothing wrong with wanting these lessons my dear, just as long as you have good reason to want them."

"I do! I want to be a great archer.!" He looked at my with a slightly raised eyebrow, "I want to be able to protect myself, and those around me." He nodded.

"Those are fine reasons, and I see no reason as to not allow you to not take these lessons. As long as-" I cut him off with a hug.

"Thank you Father, thank you so much!" I cried, forgetting about Sansa sleeping.

"Shh," He whispered, and I quieted down. "Now as I was saying, I see no problem with them, as long as you continue doing your work with your Septa, and that you pay attention to your lessons." I nodded aggressively, almost hurting my neck. "Then okay." I hugged him once more.

"Thank you Father..." I felt his arms wrap around my waist gently before letting go.

"Now, it's bed time for you, so go to sleep. I will see you in the morning." With that, he quietly got up. I slunk down into my bed bringing the blanket up to my chin, watching my father. "Good night, my dear." He leant down and placed a gentle kiss to my forehead before leaving the room, blowing out the candle on my bed side, and closing the door behind him.

I remember closing my eyes, with a soft smile upon my lips, before slipping into the sweet oblivion known as sleep.

But this isn't where my story begins - no. My story begins on the day of my birth, the day my family learnt that - no - they weren't having one child - but two. Two beautiful twin daughters, who they were to name Sansa - the first born, and Elsandria - the second born.

_14 Years Prior_

It was a late summer's night in Winterfell. Night had just fallen and the day life of the town was slowly coming to an end, with few Knights doing their nightly routines of scouting, and shop keepers packing away their stalls. With the day life ending, the town had become quieter - peaceful almost - until late into the night when cries and screams came from the Stark Castle.

Lady Catelyn Stark sat in the birthing position with a red face and sweat dripping down her neck. "Push my lady," a frail woman of 60 years stated. "You need to push, I can see the head crowning!" Taking deep breaths Lady Catelyn pushed harder.

"Just one more pushes My Lady," The woman mumbled, holding out her arms as she saw the baby's head. With all her might, Catelyn forced one more push, and fell back onto the bed in relief. She held out her arms towards the woman who helped her birth her child, asking to hold her child. The woman carefully cut the umbilical cord, before wrapping the child in a small blanket and slowly handing her to her mother. Catelyn smiled contently, looking down at the child.

"What sex is the child?" She asked the woman, carefully rocking the child back and forth.

"It's a girl," She replied with a smile.

"A girl!" She smiled, "Amazing... Her name shall be Sansa. Sansa Stark." She stated looking at the beautiful baby girl in her arms. But the happiness ended when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. "Oh!" She gasped in pain.

"My Lady!" The woman gasped in shock. "There is another baby to come!" With that, a small woman of around 30 came and carefully took the new born Sansa from Lady Starks arms, and watched as the second birthing process began. "This one may be a bit harder, my lady, but I need you to push."

With all of the minimal amount of strength left over from the first birthing process, Catelyn began to push. With each push, she could feel herself slowly becoming weaker. "Please my Lady! You can do this, just one more push!" The older woman seemed ready to faint. Holding her breath she pushed as hard as she could, before collapsing and gasping for air - her face purple from holding her breath. "It's a girl my Lady! Another girl!" The woman cried in joy, as she cleaned up the baby, cutting her umbilical cord, and wrapping her in a blanket.

Catelyn Stark sat up in shock at hearing it was another girl. "Another girl?" She exclaimed. It wasn't often that the same sex twins were born, let alone twins being born.

"Yes." The woman nodded with a smile. "And -if it is alright for me to say this- she is beautiful my Lady." She said as she carefully handed the baby over to her Lady.

Carefully taking her second baby, she looked down at her. "I cannot believe that I have a second daughter..." She mumbled in happiness. "On the same night as well..." She sighed with a smile on her face before running a gentle finger over the baby's cheek. "I don't know what I should name her, I hadn't thought about a second daughter..." She murmured, scrunching her eyebrows together. "Tell me," the older woman stood straighter.

"Yes my Lady?" She asked.

"What is your name?" Catelyn looked up at her with questioning eyes.

"Elsandria, my Lady. Elsandria Greenfield." She replied confused.

"That is a beautiful name, and I think," Her voice cracked slightly, "I think that it would be a wonderful name for my daughter." She smiled at the woman who stared at her in shock.

"My Lady!" She gasped. "You would honor me by naming your child after me!" She looked as though she was about to cry. "Thank you..." She mumbled, feeling slightly embarrassed from her outburst.

"It is nothing, and no worries. You have done a great deed helping me give birth this night, and I thank you this way - naming my child after you." She smiled at the woman, with a tired smile. "I apologise, but I am feeling quite tired, and before I sleep, I would like to hold both of my children please."

The woman nodded quickly. "Of course my Lady!" With that, the younger woman came forward and slowly lowered Sansa into her Lady's arms, before backing away.

"My beautiful daughters... Sansa, and Elsandria..." She smiled.

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**HEY! So here is the second chapter! I'm sorry for not updating sooner, I have no reason as to why I didn't but I blame it to laziness... LOL to tell you the truth, this chapter was written today in around 2 hours. I have no BETA's so I apologize for any mistakes.**

**Anyways... I hope you like it. :)**

**Thanks for all the compliments, I can't wait to see some more! :D ENJOY**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing at all... Except Elsandria, and anything else that doesn't appear in the actual series.**


	2. The Right

**So, here is the second chapter up! I know, it was a bit fast, but I did write this over a year ago!**

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_14 Years Later_

It was an early day in Winterfell, life was stirring; people were bustling about; families worked together to get the day's work done; the horses were in their stalls waiting to be ridden; the blacksmith was working the fires; tree's swayed with the wind - everything seemed normal. Near the archers rage Ned and Catelyn Stark stood proud watching over their sons as they practiced and taught each other. Within the Stark Castle a small class containing around 9 girls was being held by the leading Septa Margaret - within this class, the three Stark daughters sat.

GTGTGTGTGT

Elsandria smiled as she worked on her needlework. It was hard for her to contain her excitement during the class, since her archery lesson was to take place after class, and Father had agreed for her to have Jon Snow -her half-brother- teach her for the day. She looked down at her work, glad to see that she had been doing it correctly, and had been able to embroider the Stark Crest onto the piece of silk. She looked at the crest in happiness, glad to have been a part of the Stark family - she couldn't see herself in any other family. All of her faith and trust went into her family, and since she had the skills of an archer, she could protect her family; this made her grin.

"Elsandria," Her name was called, but she didn't pay any mind to it, continuing to look at her work with a smile on her face.

"Elsandria!" Her name was called again, and she was given a light tap on the side of her arm, jolting her out of her reverie. She shook her head as if she had been dazed, and looked up to see who it was, to find that it was Septa Margaret.

"Septa..." She whispered in embarrassment, dropping her head slight.

"Now what was that my dear?" Septa Margaret asked her with a stern voice. "I called you twice!" She exclaimed.

"I apologize Septa..." She mumbled. "I was just looking over my work, and I got lost in thought." She looked up at her Septa with a bashful look, and watched as her Septa sighed and shook her head with a smile on her face.

"Alright, it is no worries dear. Just try to concentrate a bit harder please." Septa Margaret looked down at the girl, and Elsandria nodded in response. With a final look at the young girl, Septa Margaret moved onto the next girl to look over her work.

Elsandria sighed in relief and hit herself on the forehead for being so foolish enough that she had lost her train of thought in class. "Silly..." She mumbled, and begun going over her needle-work once more, cleaning up anything that seemed to be wrong or out of place. As she found a frayed piece of string she heard her name called once again. Her head snapped up in response, causing her neck to slightly ache.

"Yes Septa?" She asked fully aware.

"One more thing," The Septa said, looking down at Elsandria. "Well done on your work. I can see fine needlework there, and I'm sure Lord and Lady Stark will be proud to see what you have created." With that the Septa walked away once again, but this time, didn't turn back. Elsandria smiled with a faint blush on her cheeks, it wasn't often that Septa Margaret would compliment you.

Returning to her work once more, Elsandria spotted out the frayed string and began to mend it using a damp cloth to wipe at it, and slowly it she was able to return it back to its original form. Elsandria then brought her needlework closer to her face to do a closer inspection, when she heard Septa Margaret begin to compliment her sister.

She smiled slightly, proud of her twin sister, but then frowned. She had to admit that she was slightly jealous of the fact that she constantly got compliments, but she couldn't do anything about it. She knew it was because she was the most lady like out of the three Stark children, and everyone loved that about her sister. She shook her head, and sighed before looking over to her little sister Arya, who seemed to also be listening to the Septa's compliments to their sister.

Elsandria tried to catch Arya's attention to keep her from getting upset, but was unable. Why won't she just look at me? She thought sighing, knowing that Arya was becoming jealous. She felt bad for her little sister who never truly received compliments from their Septa, and who was the youngest daughter. Raising her arm slightly, she waved towards Arya, catching her eye for a second before they both stopped moving all together.

From outside came a hollow thump and Elsandria watched as Arya perked up slightly, knowing the sound of an Arrow hitting a target - or hitting anything. Elsandria wanted to stop Arya from doing anything silly that would cause her to get in trouble, but she knew she wouldn't be able to, so as Arya began to get up, she just sat there watching her.

"Arya!" Septa Margaret's voice cut into the air of the now silent room. Arya paid her no attention, as she set her needlework down before racing out of the room like a horse running towards a battle. "ARYA!" Septa Margaret called again, trying to stop the girl.

"Septa Margaret." Elsandria called slightly, catching the Septa's attention.

"Yes my dear?" The woman looked down at the girl with a tired look in her eyes, which Elsandria could say was due to Arya's antics.

"I can go and fetch her if you wish," Elsandria offered, before cutting in as she saw the Septa try to speak. "I have finished my needlework -as you can see- so it won't keep me from my work." She tried to convince the Septa.

Septa Margaret gave Elsandria a once over before huffing slightly and allowing her shoulders to drop. "Alright, now you bring her back as fast as you can!" With that, Elsandria had placed her needlework down and had raced out of the room - following Arya's footsteps.

Elsandria knew exactly where Arya had gone off to, and started to run as fast as she could, racing towards the archery grounds. She ran past halls, and down a few flights of staircases before she could finally hear her father slight laugh, and her brothers' loud voices. Hearing her family, she put more effort into her running. Just as she saw her little brother Bran take aim, along with her other brothers standing next to him, she heard the hollow whizzing of an arrow and the thump of it hitting its target, and saw that Bran's arrow hadn't been released yet. Arya! She thought, hearing the giggle of her sister.

"Arya!" She called trying to stop her, still running, but it was no use; Arya had run off with Bran chasing her.

Elsandria came to a stop and shook her head at the girl, knowing that now both Arya and herself were going to get into trouble with their Septa. "Elsandria what are you doing here darling?" She heard her mother's voice come from above her. She looked up and smiled slightly.

"Arya ran off again, as you can see," she gestured out towards where Bran was chasing Arya. "I was sent to retrieve her." She replied laughing slightly -knowing that she had no chance of catching the girl at the moment. When she looked at her Mother again, she noticed that her attention was turned away from her and towards her father and some other men. She didn't know what they were saying, but she did hear one thing 'deserter'.

"There's a deserter?" She called out to her parents in shock. She had heard of deserters, but they didn't occur often, and having one now was quite the shock. "Father, tell me, there's a deserter!" She watched as her father nodded down towards her and her heart began to pump harder. She couldn't believe it... she shook her head slightly before leaning in to get a better hearing of what they were saying.

"Law is law, my Lady." The older man standing next to her father said. Her mother shook her head in what seemed to be disgust.

"Tell Bran he's coming too." Elsandria reared back at this. He is only 10! She thought in shock, unable to believe that her father would actually bring him along to watch him give command.

"Father!" She cried in shock, her eyes widening. But her father ignored her, and continued to speak, and all she heard was 'he won't be a boy forever.' She shook her head still in shock before running up the steps towards her father. "Father! Father, if you are going to take Bran with you, take me with too." She didn't want her little brother to go through it alone - if she went along, then he would have someone to share the experience with, and if he needed to talk to someone about it, then she would be able to.

"I cannot allow that." He said looking directly at her in shock at the fact that she wanted to come.

"Father please. This way Bran won't have to go through it alone, and this way I won't have to witness it at a later date." She tried to persuade him. "Please father!" She cried again.

"I shouldn't allow this..." He grunted. "But this once, you may." She was about to run off, but he stopped her with a hand. "But promise me, if you get scared, look away." He looked her dead in the eyes, and she nodded in response, knowing that he was being utterly serious. With that he turned around and walked away, leaving her to retrieve her horse.

GTGTGTGTGT

Elsandria couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as she stood next to her brothers near the beheading site. She shifted back and forth on her feet, and began to rock herself slightly.

"Elsandria if you don't want to watch, turn away." Her older brother Robb said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to see it." He murmured looking down at her with soft eyes. She shook her head thoroughly in response.

"No, I must, so Bran doesn't have to go through it alone!" She said and stopped moving in her nervous way. "I must..." She whispered, and turned her head back to the scene which was going to take place before her. She watched as the man who had been declared a 'deserter' was brought forward, and looked at how weather down, and cold he looked. He didn't look more than 25 years of age to her, but she knew that she may be wrong. She listened as he mumbled something about 'white walkers' and fear shook through her, and down her spine. She knew the stories, and didn't want them to be real, so she hoped that this man was lying.

"I saw what I saw."

When she heard the man's voice she knew she couldn't continue listening to what was being said, because if she did, she would continue hearing his voice everywhere - haunting her during the day and at night, and she didn't want that. She tuned out everything that was being said and began to drift into her thoughts, before being abruptly pulled out of them.

The sound of her father's sword being slid out of its hilt brought her back to reality, and she noticed the man had been laid down on the beheading tree trunk that contained a groove in which a neck could be put over. Her heart began to race as she heard her father speak.

"In the name of Robert of the house of Baratheon, the first of his name," Elsandria jostled when she heard Jon speak.

"Don't look away," He said to Bran. She looked down at her younger brother listening, seeing that his eyes were trained in on their father. Placing a gentle hand on his shoulder she turned back to her father. "Father will know if you do."

Elsandria tuned his voice out and listened harder to her father's voice. "...lord of the seven kingdoms, and protector of the realm. I Eddard of the house of Stark, Lord of Winterfell and warden of the North, sentence you to die." At the last word Elsandria's eyes widened a fraction, and then everything seemed to go in slow motion. Her heart began to pump, beating harder and harder, so hard that she heard it loud in her ears; the wind seemed to still; life seemed to become silent; and breaths were held. Suddenly her heart seemed to stop as her father raised the sword, and brought it down over the man's head, severing it from his body. She gasped slightly before containing it, and the few tears that dared to fall.

This is what should happen.

This is right.

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**I hope you liked it.**

**Please R+R, I would love to hear what you think about it so far! :D**


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